Carol Lloyd writes about Mitchell Schwarzer's diagnosis of San Francisco as a climate of obsessive architectural preservationsists and planning reactionaries. Can the city de-institutionalize itself from its fears of new development in a way that can still control developers but also bring new innovation to its urban design?
From SFGate.com
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"What's with our love affair with early-20th-century buildings?
When I asked a few friends, I got a wonderful array of answers -- all of which I agree with, even as I realize they're premised on shaky assumptions.
"They're better built."
Thinking that they are better made than a prefab home of the 1970s is one thing, but current construction -- especially with green building materials and improved energy efficiency -- does have many benefits over wood frames and brick foundations. "
did the the good-old-days include lead water supply pipes? :-)
there must be more dried rat bodies in the walls of older houses.
pathces and ad-ons on patches and add-ons. DWV pipes hung on the siding. double hung sash weight windows that havne't been openable since the last 14 layers of lead paint were applied. wonderful.
"Although I don't really fit Schwarzer's description, I feel the sting of it in my hunger for an urban lifestyle that is quaint and gentle and, yes, sweet. But this isn't my entitlement; this is a luxury -- and a distinctly conservative one, at that. On an individual basis, it's a natural enough desire, but I can't help but wonder, if this becomes the essence of our built environment, what will we miss out on?"
your neighborhood is too sweet? trade quarters wiht someone who lives in the tenderloin. :-)
funny that this opinion seems i oppositoin to another (linked to) opinion posted here in 'news'. http://archinect.com/news/article.php?id=7432_0_24_0_C
Seven Fallacies In Architectural Culture
By Douglas Kelbaugh FAIA, Dean, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, University of Michigan
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